Cheyenne Tribe History, Culture, and Facts

The Cheyenne tribe are one of the major tribes of the Great Plains and have a long and colorful history.

Their dominance as one of the major tribes has significantly impacted the country’s development.

This Native tribe from the Plains has maintained its culture, even growing in number. How did the tribe accomplish this? A look into their history and fascinating facts about the Cheyenne tribe will tell us more.

Cheyenne Tribe History

Pre- European Contact

The Chaa, an ancient Algonquian tribe, were the ancestors of the Cheyenne people, who first appeared around the Woodland era. (500 BC – 1100 AD).

Before European invaders pushed them to relocate west into the Great Plains, the Cheyenne was one of the many tribes that inhabited the area around the Great Lakes.

The term “Cheyenne” has many origin stories, although the tribe called itself Tsitsistas, which translates to “the people.” Two tribes make up the Cheyenne Nation, the Sutaio and the Tsitsistas.

Having constantly traveled together, these two tribes eventually amalgamated in the early 19th century. The original home of the Cheyenne people was in the Great Lakes region; they inhabited some sections of Minnesota and Illinois.

In response to other tribes annexing their territory, the Cheyenne went west. In North and South Dakota, they made their homes. The Black Hills of Wyoming and South Dakota were eventually forced upon them. They were further driven west by the Sioux.

Thus, they only stayed there for a short time. The Cheyenne tribe were initially farmers with their food products containing crops like corn and beans. They were also fierce hunters who consumed different rupees of meat.

European Contact (17th-19th Century)

French explorers made the first known contact with the Cheyenne at Fort Crevecoeur near modern-day Peoria, Illinois.

The Cheyenne European contact helped them with horses in the late 1700s. They rode horses to hunt buffalo and lived a nomadic life during this time.

According to a Cheyenne tale, they “lost the corn,” abandoning cultivation to follow the buffalo herds.

By the mid-id-9th century, the Cheyenne had completely embraced the traditional nomadic Plains culture, having mostly left behind agricultural and ceramic traditions, thanks to a western push by the migrating Lakota and Ojibwa nations.

This period also saw the Cheyenne tribe being forced southward by Sioux’s expansion into present-day eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska.

In 1825, due to conflicts over trading routes, the Cheyenne divided into two tribes: the Northern Cheyenne and the Southern Cheyenne; the Northern Cheyenne remained close to the Northern Platte River, while the Southern Cheyenne, with the Arapaho, moved to Oklahoma.

On November 29, 1864, a village containing 759 Cheyenne and Arapaho natives suffered an attack from Colonel John M. Chivington and his troops.

About 230 individuals, primarily children, women, and the elderly, lost their lives. It was later recognized as the Sand Creek Massacre.

Their Northern counterparts fought in the Little Bighorn Battle of 1876, defeating George Armstrong Custer and most of his Army. News of the incident spread throughout the country and arrived in Washington, DC, just as the country was commemorating its centennial.

Many white Americans were angry by the deaths of Custer and his army troops. The American Army made more attempts to take the Cheyenne captive.

The administration’s goal was to bring the Northern and Southern Cheyenne back together. And so, in 1877, some Cheyenne were led back into the Indian Nation in Oklahoma.

They soon fell prey to illnesses and a lack of quality food. In 1878, the Cheyenne Chiefs pressured for a release so that they could go back north, which they earned when over three hundred Cheyenne departed Indian Territory to return north.

The Cheyenne Tribe Today

There are currently just over 11,000 Cheyenne, with nearly half of them living on reservations, according to the most recent study.

The Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation on the Tongue River in Wyoming is home to 7,502 people, and the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservation in Oklahoma is home to 387 more people.

Both reserves have their governmental structures and laws and are acknowledged by the U.S. government.

Cheyenne Tribe Culture

Due to trespassers, environmental demands, and the need for survival, the Cheyenne have established and remade their culture from their point of origin down to the present.

Language

The Cheyenne language, known as Tsêhésenêstsestôtse or Tsisinstsistots, is based on the Algonquin language family.

It shares a linguistic kinship with other Algonquian tongues, including the Arapaho and Blackfoot languages. The Native American language of the Cheyenne tribe is regarded as endangered.

Currently, Oklahoma and Montana’s Cheyenne reservations are the main locations where the language is spoken.

Settlements

The Cheyenne of Minnesota’s early farming era lived in lodges made from wood frames filled with soil and grass.

The Cheyenne of the Great Plains inhabited teepees built of buffalo hides and wooden poles; teepees were conical in structure. Moving the teepees from one location to another was simple.

Food

The Cheyenne were fierce hunters, so small animals and big ones served as meat; animals like rabbits and squirrels, as well as buffalo, elk, and deer, were on the menu.

They also gathered wild berries, potatoes, and other plants and roots.

Beliefs

Animism served as the foundation for the Cheyenne tribe’s religion and worldview.

That included the spiritual or religious notion that the cosmos and all natural objects, including animals, plants, trees, and rivers, have souls or spirits.

The Cheyenne have a strong belief in Manitoba, the Great Spirit. The Cheyenne term “Maheo” is a reference to the supreme being.

Clothing

The Cheyenne wore deerskin clothes throughout the summer. They would wear robes made of buffalo hides to stay warm during the chilly winter months.

Long dresses were worn by the women and breechcloths by the men.

Cheyenne Tribe Facts

The Sun Dance ceremony was celebrated by the Cheyenne bands every year over four days in the Spring.
They engaged George Custer and the U.S. Army in the renowned Battle of Little Big Horn alongside the Arapaho and Lakota.
At various points throughout time, they have been both allies and adversaries of the Lakota people.
Their clothing, housing, and nourishment were provisions made possible by the buffalo, who had a significant role in the Cheyenne tribe way of life and culture.
The American government forcibly relocated the Cheyennes to Oklahoma in the 1800s, but some managed to flee and headed north into Montana.